In today's economic circumstances, consumers are being much more cautious and careful with their clothing purchases. However these consumers are buying clothing maintenance products in a much higher volume. Instead of purchasing new clothes, today's consumers are protecting the clothes they already own. Buttons, needles and thread used to mend clothes, stain removers, replacement belt buckles, at-home treatment products for dry-clean-only clothing, and other relevant product fields have enjoyed notable spikes in sales while the general clothing industry itself sits by the wayside. In other words, rather than spending money on clothing, consumers are buying products to protect the clothing they already have and to make their maintenance cheaper and easier.
Many consumers love the look and feel of fashionable fabrics, yet do not care for the trouble involved in their care. Many fashionable fabrics such as, but not limited to, wool, cashmere, and silk require special care when drying. This special care often requires the garment to be dried flat rather than being tumble or line dried. Tumble drying these fabrics can lead to shrinkage or damage. Line drying can cause stretching, creases and wrinkles, and hang drying using clothes hangers can cause shoulder bumps where the hanger contacts the garment. These clothes typically do not hold the same fashionable appearance after improper drying. Too often, special care instructions can make a consumer regret buying new, fashionable clothing because of the inconvenience. If the clothing cannot be tossed into the dryer, many consumers find their appreciation for such clothing to fade.
Proper care of clothing is important. A person's appearance in their clothes is what sets a first impression, and one mere blemish or one sign of improper maintenance of their clothing can negatively affect that first impression. That is why it is important to care for clothing in an appropriate manner. However it can be difficult to do so at times, especially with particular clothing items that require specific care. Items that require flat drying, for example, without limitation, most sweaters, can be tedious to tend to and can also be quite inconvenient to care for in limited space. Flat drying clothing can require a large amount of space, which is often not available in a typical laundry room, and most people do not want to have their clothing spread throughout their house to dry. It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide means for flat drying clothing.
There are products currently available that are meant to make it easier to care for clothing that requires flat drying, for example, drying racks. However, no matter how easy these products make flat drying, they are not easy to work with. In fact, some of these products can make the whole process more inconvenient. These products are typically large and heavy and must be carried to a place of use. Many of these products must be unfolded and set-up, and then their location of use must be avoided until the clothes are dry. Then, they must be broken down, folded up and carried back to an area large enough to store them.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for improved techniques for providing means for easily flat drying clothing that is easy to set up and put away and does not require a large amount of space.
Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.